WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four co-conspirators will be sent to New York for trial in a court near the site of the World Trade Center, the Obama administration said yesterday, as it took a step toward closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the others had been facing military commission trials at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, but U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to close the prison.
Civil liberties advocates hailed the decision to transfer the men to criminal courts but Republicans lashed out, arguing that bringing them to U.S. soil could make New York a magnet for new attacks and that the men deserved military trials.
Obama’s decision opened him to risks — should the prosecutions fail, or if it prompts further attacks, it could anger the victims’ families and prompt a public backlash.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder expressed confidence that the cases were strong and said the trials would not be impaired by the harsh interrogations of Mohammed and others.
“I am confident in the ability of our courts to provide these defendants a fair trial, just as they have for over 200 years,” Holder told reporters. “I am quite confident that the outcomes in these cases will be successful ones.”
Obama has promised to close Guantanamo by Jan. 22, saying that it has become a recruiting symbol for anti-American groups and it has tarnished the U.S. reputation because of allegations of prisoner mistreatment.
In New York, some people were angry at the prospect of the men coming to a city traumatized by the hijacked-plane attacks eight years ago but others voiced relief that justice may soon be done.
Holder said that he would authorize prosecutors to seek the death penalty against the five defendants, who will be tried together in New York. The others are Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi.
There are still 215 prisoners at Guantanamo. The Obama administration has been trying to find countries willing to take detainees who have been cleared of terrorism connections.
